


Repeating MO

by sp580s



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Drinking, Experiment, Gen, Implied Torture, Implied electrocution, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Milgram, Psychology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-22 21:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14317431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp580s/pseuds/sp580s
Summary: Red Leader aquires the rest of the eddsquad for some experimentation. Tom takes it badly.This will hopefully be updated on Saturdays and Wednesdays until it is all up





	1. Introduction

“Matt, Edd, you know why you're here today?” It was a rhetorical question, the distorted voice expecting no real response.

“Well I mean there is bett-” Matt was cut off by a glare from his friend. “Yes.”

“Since you're feeling so chatty, you may go first. Edd, wait in the hall,” he paused a moment before continuing, “and no matter what you hear, don't be running off.”

“Yes Red Leader,” Edd spoke softly to hide his nerves as he rose and left Matt alone in the bare room. 

Matt looked up at the man in charge, Red Leader; the man behind the horned mask that twisted his voice beyond recognition. He took Edd’s chair and spun it so he could sit as well, facing his subject. Matt laughed, “Could you be any more ominous? Just get it over with already man.”

A distorted growl escaped Red, but he knew the blithe response was just a mask for the fear of the proud young man, so he withheld punishment for now. Red pulled out a device, outdated technology, but fine for his purposes. “I will ask you a question, and after a pause you will respond with what you think is the right answer. If there is a mistake, I will not tell you. The results will be revealed at the end.”

“An intelligence test? Really? Isn't there someone else you could've dragged in-”

The back of a mechanical hand struck his cheek, cutting off his words and nearly throwing him from the chair. “Enough! Let us begin.”

Matt nodded silently and took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come.

 

Before long it was over, Edd was called in, and it went much smoother. The friendly artist understood what was within his place, and followed orders promptly. However, when he was finished, he didn't leave right away. “What now? This can't be all there is.”

“Too clever by far sometimes, old friend.” Edd grimaced at that address, but the twisted voice continued, “Phase Two shall begin shortly, the first phase for my third subject.” 

Edd sighed and left, knowing someone would find him shortly for whatever Red Leader had planned for the next phase.


	2. Method

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Leader explains his experiment.

Brushed steel walls, hard chair, ankle bindings, and quite the contraption before him. Tom blinked and tried to get his bearings. He had been on his way to the liquor store, and then…. The thoughts just trailed off, foggy, more of an impression. Danger. Pain. Darkness. Now he was here, wherever here was. What an inconvenience to his day this was. The click of a door opening behind him caught his attention, and he turned ever so slightly to try and see who it would be. A deep, obviously warped voice made him freeze, “Don't bother moving, I'm not going to hurt you without cause. Physically anyway.” The mysterious voice laughed ominously, but Tom stayed silent. It continued, “You are here to assist me in a testing of intelligence for my inferiors. Before you is a shock generator, a little incentive for them to get it right. You see, each switch gets a little stronger and for each incorrect answer you'll increase by one step. I can give you a small taste of what they'll be experiencing if you wish.”

Tom scoffed, “Yes because I want to subject myself to electrocution by some robo-voiced nutcase.”

The distorted voice chuckled, “Very well. Oh, and your voice will be distorted so there's no danger to you if you were to meet them outside of this place. Any other snarky remarks or questions before we commence?”

“Can I leave?” 

“No.” The curt remark was accompanied by the chair being pushed forward, scraping noisily against the cement floor. Tom cringed a little, but looked over the machine. A small screen flickered to life and words appeared:

WELCOME

READ THE QUESTION AND OPTIONS PRECISELY AS WRITTEN

ANY ATTEMPT TO GIVE AWAY THE CORRECT ANSWER WILL RUIN THE TEST AND YOU WILL BE PUNISHED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry all these are so short. If you have any questions, comments, or predictions don't hesitate to leave them!


	3. Observations A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first subject is tested by Tom, who isn't taking this very seriously.

No sooner had he read it, a question appeared on the screen.

“Complete the analogy. Book is to Reading as Fork is to:

  1. Stirring
  2. Drawing
  3. Eating
  4. Writing”



There was a pause after Tom finished speaking, then a green light appeared, silhouetting the letter “C”. The mysterious voice stated the obvious, that green denoted a correct answer. Tom was silent, outside of what he had to read. A few questions later, a red light flashed, and without prompting, Tom flicked the switch. The cheesy noise did nothing to dispel the growing skepticism within Tom. However, the almost instant cry of pain through a speaker struck a familiar chord. Tom laughed, “Matt? Really? You expect me to believe that he works for you? I didn't know your standards for employees were so low.”

“He's head of the mirror testing division,” the retort came without hesitation. Its accuracy put Tom on edge, but he pushed that thought away. Anyone who spent any time at all with Matt would know how self-absorbed he was. 

“You still can't expect me to believe this is real though.” 

This was met with momentary silence, then one command “Continue.”

Tom shrugged and read out the next question, which was answered with a green light. However, the difficulty was increasing and more and more red lights flashed, followed by the casual flipping of a switch and the cheesy electric noise. The protests got progressively louder, and Matt's voice began to stammer excuses and pleaded to be released. Complains of scarring and burns were whimpered out, the typical conceited things that almost drew a smile to Tom’s lips. All of it was so classic that it seemed unreal, like they were trying too hard. Though, Matt did have a flair for the dramatic, very true and typical of himself. Regardless, his voice continued steadily, “Which number should come next in the pattern? 33, 29, 25, 21

  1. 17
  2. 19
  3. 18
  4. 13”



The green light blinked behind A, but Tom smirked and flicked the next switch. Matt howled in agony and claimed that he refused to continue. “What are you doing? He got that one right,” the twisted voice boomed.

Tom shrugged, “Guess I was too into the habit.” Privately he took a little joy in the thought of shocking Matt for all his idiocy. Served the narcissist right, not that any of this seemed real anyway. The strange voice growled, but said nothing more. 

After not too much longer, the experiment finished, and Tom shivered. Towards the end the screams had become truly desperate, before complete silence. This left a sick feeling deep in Tom, just a small feeling though. There was almost no chance this could really be Matt….


	4. Observations B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next subject is tested, then Tom is allowed to leave.

The deep, distorted voice droned behind Tom, who was lost in his mildly conflicted mind. It rose and cut through his thoughts, “Tom! The next subject shall be in shortly, compose yourself if necessary.” 

Tom chuckled, pushing away any concerns and stretching leisurely, “I'm readier than i was before the last time, that was quite the entertainment. Who do you have for your next trick? T-”

He was cut off by a timid voice crackling through the speaker, one that drained all merriment from Tom, “Hello? Will it begin soon?” 

The passive, unassuming voice of his past landlord and dear friend, Edd, was unmistakable. Doubt flashed through Tom, but he knew it must be a trick. Edd was much too absorbed in his artistic pursuits to work for whoever this mysterious voice was. Still, was it worth the risk? The owner of the twisted voice seemed to pick up on his hesitation, “You may leave now if you wish.” When met with silence he continued, “I've received word of another tester, so it's no loss to me if you go.”

Tom snorted, “I've come this far, this is obviously some foolish trick.”

The deep voice made a nearly imperceptible comment before speaking up properly, “Proceed then, if you're so sure.”

Tom said nothing, then, when the first question appeared, he read it out for Edd. The green light flashed promptly and Tom smiled. Why was he feeling relieved? This wasn't real. He pressed on, only hesitating a moment when the first red light flashed. Edd said nothing when it happened, he was always the responsible one, not that this could be him. At the next incorrect answer, Tom forced himself to flick the switch quickly. There was a little yelp, but Tom’s face betrayed nothing. Stoically he read put question after question, all hints of humour gone as each red light yielded a cry from Edd. Once or twice he started to say something, but stopped himself. A chill ran through Tom as he read out yet another question, near the end of the list. He knew what was coming, and, when the red light flashed, he closed his eyes a moment. 

“You had your chance, you must continue now,” the distorted voice cut into his thoughts.

He clenched his fists, resisting any sort of outburst. After a moment he flicked the switch and a howl of pain called out through the speaker, followed by Edd’s pleading voice, “Please! No! No more, I've had enough, nothing is worth this!” 

After a deep breath, Tom continued, tuning out the pained calls of his friend. Eventually, they too fell silent, just like Matt had. “Anyone else? Maybe you brought Tord back just for this little reunion?” 

The mysterious one chuckled, “No on both counts. One of my associates will be in shortly to take you out of our compound, as well as supply a ride to wherever you may wish to go.” 

“Go suck a-” his words were cut off by the slamming of a door. Tom waited in silence, and before long a man in a military uniform bearing no emblems came in and escorted Tom out. 

Once at the nondescript car, the man spoke, “Where to Tom?”

He didn't ask how he knew his name, just gave the address he had walked to on more occasions than he could count. Usually because he was too drunk to remember them. Soon this whole thing would be a bleary memory.


	5. Debreif

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom is drunk in an appartment that isn't his.

The bottle fell from Tom's hand, and he rolled over to face the back of Edd’s couch. Matt and Edd weren't home when he arrived at their apartment; almost a surprise, and yet, not quite. He didn't know how strong the shocks had been, but they both got so quiet at the end. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out his flask, taking a long swig from it. He stared blankly at the ceiling, refusing to let himself look again at the door to Edd's workroom, or the mirror abandoned on the kitchen table. 

He felt heavy, and just let the thoughts slide around within his mind, not daring to cling to any. Distantly he heard the door click. Two familiar voices were chattering away, but he paid them no mind. He must've fallen asleep, but he wasn't playing this game tonight. Come what may, he wasn't going to help it along. “Tom? You alright?”

He blinked and slowly turned his head, grinning massively, “Just dandy; after all we've been through, why am I surprised you're haunting me?”

Matt started to say something, but Edd cut him off, “Haunting? We just left for a few hours Tom. You knew that.”

Tom shook his head and chuckled, “You went, I was taken. Were you taken? After you went I mean.” 

He tried to sit up as they stared at him in bewilderment. Being completely upright was difficult, so he settled for a stiff lean, with his arm locked and hand on the couch. Matt scratched his head dumbly, “Taken? Where though?”

“Same place as you, that compounder thing. With the metal voiced man,” as the slightly slurred words slid out, Tom wrinkled his brow. Even to him this made no sense.

Edd smiled gently and patted his shoulder, “It sounds like you had quite the adventure while we were out. Maybe you watched a movie?”

Tom shrugged and let himself fall against the couch. Edd’s hand felt so real; maybe his adventure had just been a booze infested nightmare. “Mebbe so. Matt are you real too?”

“Would you really be able to perfectly imagine this perfect face?” Matt grinned.

Tom's arm shot out with surprising accuracy, burying his fist in Matt's stomach. Matt groaned dramatically and stumbled back. Tom smirked, “Good, is real too. Now go away both of you, you're much too chipper.” 

Edd’s voice called out from the kitchen, “Come along Matt, whatever happened, he's had a rough day.” Matt went to him, and Tom buried his face in the couch. 

Once they were sure he was asleep, Edd tucked a blanket around him, and together he and Matt drove back to the compound. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Regardless, I'd love to know what you think.


	6. Discussion and Conclusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha so I made a little oops, forgot it was 6 chapters instead of 5 so uh... here 

“Good work you two, I assume the debrief went well?”

Matt rubbed his stomach, but Edd answered the metallic voice of their leader, “Yes sir, nothing unexpected, and he has accepted that we are alive. He may even suspect today was all a bad dream.”

Matt grumbled, “It wasn't all bad; he seemed pretty happy when he thought he was zapping me.”

Red Leader chuckled, “Yes, though that was to be expected. I'm more interested in his reluctance to harm Edd, yet doing it without question.”

“Honestly I'm shocked, even more so than if it had all been real,” Edd chuckled at his own lame joke. “I really didn't think he cared so much.”

“But he obviously did, about you anyway,” Matt's voice was sulky, though he too expected all this. 

“Yes, Matt is right for once. Still, Tom obeyed silently and with only minor hesitations to harm one of his closest friends. Those orders came from an authority figure he neither knew, nor cared about, too. We can all agree this was a success?” The other two nodded. “Then we shall soon recruit him for the Red Army. He will certainly make a fine soldier with his skills and temperament.” They nodded again and were dismissed, their work for the day complete. 


End file.
